PSA reveals results of real-world fuel tests

The PSA Group has followed through on promises to publish real world fuel economy figures of key vehicles across its Citroen, DS and Peugeot ranges.

The French auto-maker’s undertaking emerged in the wake of VW’s #Dieselgate emission scandal and has been bolstered by admissions of ‘cheating’ from Mitsubishi.

The real world figures have been offered up as an alternative to NEDC Combined and other regimes used by the wider auto industry and mandated under local Australian Design Rules.

For its testing PSA sought the assistance of two French non-governmental organisations – Transport & Environment (T&E) and France Nature Environment (FNE) – to assess the real-world fuel use of 30 of its core models. The vehicles were assessed as part of the European Union's Real Driving Emissions (RDE) project which “uses a portable emissions measurement system on each vehicle to accurately gauge a result”.

Testing the vehicles on public roads and in real-life conditions (ie: with passengers and luggage on board, using the air-conditioning system and driving on roads with gradients) the conclusions were found to be ‘scientifically robust’, drawing close to those made from PSA customers when surveyed independently.

The initiative is believed to be a world-first and showed differences of between 1.5-2.6L/100km compared to the NEDC result for Citroen’s 11-strong range, between 1.4-1.7L/100km for the trio of DS models, and 1.2-2.7L/100km for the 14-model Peugeot line-up.

“The PSA Group has today published real-world consumption data for 30 Peugeot, Citroën and DS models, in line with the commitment to transparency made in October 2015,” explained PSA’s executive vice president of R&D, Gilles LeBorgne.

“As part of its drive to continuously provide customers with more information, the Group will publish figures for another 20 models by the end of the year and introduce a simulator allowing customers to reduce their fuel consumption depending on driving conditions, thereby lowering their CO2 emissions.”

The simulator LeBorgne speaks of will be offered across PSA public websites to enable customers to more accurately predict the fuel consumption of their vehicle. Based on the customer’s driving style and road conditions, it’s hoped the application will help drivers better manage their fuel consumption.

The news comes as PSA’s local arm announces a ‘clearing sale’ of its C5 range. With just 62 sedan and touring models in stock, the final shipment includes 10 higher output BlueHDi (133kW/400Nm) variants and 52 vehicles powered by a 120kW/340Nm version of the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel.

All offer a 7.0-inch touchscreen, DAB+ digital radio receiver, 16GB on-board hard drive, Apple CarPlay and Mirror Link and all are suspended by Citroen’s famed hydro-pneumatic suspension. Both the sedan and touring variants also include a reversing camera, sat-nav, sunroof, heated front seats and massaging driver’s seat, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity.

The C5s are offered optionally with 19-inch Adriatic alloy wheels ($2000), metallic paint ($1000) and a premium audio system ($1800).

The final C5 sedan and touring range is priced from $47,990 to $52,990 (plus on-road costs).